Martin Mayerhofer FSO: Höhepunkte mittelalterlicher Paulusexegese: Die Kommentierung des Corpus Paulinum durch Haymo von Auxerre und Bruno den Kartäuser
Among the Medieval Exegetes of the Pauline Letters, we find Haymo ofAuxerre (c. 825- c.875) and Bruno the Carthusian (c. 1030-1101). An analysis of their commentaries on the Letter to the Ephesians reveals them as outstanding masters of Sacred Scripture. Compared to the Compilation Method used in the Carolingian Era and the Gloss Method which dominates the Exegese from the 12th Century onwards, Haymo and Bruno differ with these styles of exegesis in three main ways: They demonstrate a great sensibility for the biblical text on which they comment, they integrate the Patristic texts in their own commentaries in a very independent way, and they provide a personal theological interpretation to the Pauline text. An attentive comparison also shows that Bruno knew and used Haymo’s commentary and integrated it subtly in his own Pauline commentary. Just as Bruno did with Patristic sources, he didn’t copy Haymo but used him as an inspiration for his own exegesis. While Haymo is interested in dogmatic and sacramental content in his Commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians, Bruno used the Pauline Letter as a departure point to draw a kind of via perfectionis for his readers.
Keywords: Haimo of Auxerre – Bruno the Carthusian – medieval exegesis – Pauline commentaries